Improved tar-mops



Nirni) STATES A'rnNr einen.

JOHN W. MIDVVINTER, OF PORT WASHINGTON, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVED TAR-MOPS.

lSpecification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,1120, dated October 27, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J oHN W. MIDWINTER, of Port Washington, Monmouth county, New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Construction of Mops Used with Tar and Pitch 5 and I hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

To enable others skilled in the business to make and use my invention, I proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the drawings hereunto annexed, and making part of this specilication.

Figure l is a side elevation of the mop, the

handle broken off partly; Fig. 2, the staff on which the mop is set 5 Fig. 3, the brush or gathered materials as tied ready for use 5 Fig. 4, the same spread in position to receive the staff; Fig. 5, the staff as truncated at the point after two of the brushes, Fig. 3, have been driven on 5 Fig. 6, the same, (afterthetwo wisps, Fig. 3, or brushes have been driven on,) shown as battered or bruised orriveted, to spread out the end and retain on it the mop; Fig. 7, the clout-nail or truss-hoop nail used to fasten the wisps and complete the mop. It is drawn enlarged. Fig. 8 is the mop iinished, showing the end as nailed, with the washer of leather.

The same letters refer to the same things in all the drafts.

A is the scathed part of the staff 5 B, the marlin or spun-yarn or tarred cord, used to bind the wisps of which the mop is composed 5 0, the leather washer necessary to the mop to prevent burning off the threads or thrums of which it is composed; D, the clout-nail used to fasten the end 5 E, the point on the scathed part of the staff at or near which it is truncated, preparatory to expanding it by pounding.

The peculiar make of this ships mop has been the result of numberless experiments to make one that would not pull off when the tar becomes stiff, that would not turn on the staff, that would not burn off the thrums or threads of which it is composed, and that could begdepended on in all respects.

In the practical construction of this mop I use the thrums left by carpet-weavers, as the most suitable article I can nd. A I mass these threads evenly to about an inch in diam` eter, and while in the whole length of the thrums bind them in wisps. I(See Fig. 3.) This binding of the wisps is an important matter, and on it depends much of the success. I use the tarred yarns vcommon in ships rigging-that which is an eighth or three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter. I first put round the wisp a timber-hitch-fi. c., making a loop held by passing the end several times under-constituting a slip-noose, which I draw tight. I then wind it, making at each turn a half hitch and drawing it tight, four times round, and cut off the end without other fastening, depending on the tarry yarn to hold as securely as is desirable, since it is required to yield a little. In this condition the wisp is very firm, yet it will spread and yield to a hard strain. If tied in a knot it would not be possible to -make the mop work on this general mode of construction. I next cut the wisps of the length required, long or short,according to the class of mop or swab to be made. When very large swabs are to be made, the wisps are made thicker.

The formation of the staff is important. I take a round staff, in general form that of a broom-handle, and champfer off thelarger end, reducing it in size for a few inches, and making a second champfering off tov bring it to a point. The shape ofthe end thus champfered or scathed oft' is seen at Fig. 2. I cut it oft on four sides only, so as to make itV square in cross-section to prevent the turning of the mop upon it.

To make the mop I take one ofthe wisps and open it at the center, as shown at Fig. 4, and enter a stretching-iron, to make the hole andstretch it to its utmost, and then drive it by means of a collar upon the staff with great force. I do the saine with the second or third wisp, (for it is best to make the mop of two or three wisps,) till all are well forced onto the larger part of the champfered end. By this mode I stretch the marlin to its utmost and bind the thrums so that they can be depended on to hold. The smaller part of the champfered end now protrudes from the mop. This is sawed off at E, leaving the staff as shown at Fig. 5. I then batter, bruise, or rivet this end of the staff, spreading the wood out at the end, so as to form a practical enlargement and hold on the mop. I then drive in the truss-hoop nail, Fig. 7, (shown enlarged,) with lits large leather Washer C. This holds down the bruised end of the staff, and the mop has no tendency to force out the nail, the strain being upon the spread part of the wood.

The use of the Washerv C is important. It prevents burning oi' the thrums. The nailhead seems to burn them oft' Whenever the pitch or tar is unusually hot, but the Washer of leather, which I have devised, saves them entire by keeping them from touching the metal.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The mop, when constructed and its parts arranged relatively to each other, substantially as specified.

JOHN W. MIDWINTER. Witnesses:

OWEN G. WARREN, AzoR HOYT. 

